Grooming Drop Coated Dogs

Drop coat refers to a long, straight and flowing coat. Dogs breeds such as Shih Tzu's, Lhasa's, Yorkshire Terrier and Maltese all have drop coats. These coats have their pro's and con's. One benefit of these breeds is that they are single coated, meaning one hair per follicle. These breeds shed less and they are less allergenic. I use a light mist of conditioning spray to keep the hair tame and free from static.

While these coats can be stunning, its alot of work to maintain them. The photo above shows how I brush out most drop coated dogs. As you can see, I am using a comb. I use a slicker brush on mats and the comb on the rest of the coat. If you are brushing regularly, you may just need to run a comb through their hair every day or every other day. Once you get into a routine, I should take 10 min or less. Pets coats grown in layers, so be sure to hold up the hair as you see here, and comb through each layer and work my way around the body. I use a black anti static teflon comb.

Many pet owners keep their drop coated dogs in short haircuts. These are cute and easy to maintain and can be of any length. Most owners have their pets in short pet trims ranging from 1/4" and longer. This Maltese is kept in a long scissor cut.

This Shih tzu mix is in a short hair cut